Heater for thawing frozen earth, &amp;c.



No. 629,740. Patented July 25, |899. C. P. BRUWN.

HEATER FOR THAWING FROZEN EARTH, 81.6.

(Application ld Mar. 10, 1898.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT Brien.

CHARLES PORTER BROVN, OF OMA-HA, NEBRASKA HEATER FOR'THAWING FROZEN EARTH, 84C..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 629,740, dated July 25, 1899.

Application filed March 10, 1898.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, vCHARLES PORTER BROWN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Appliances for Thawing Frozen Earth in Mining Operations and Cooking Attachments Thereto, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in appliances for the facilitation of mining in' frozen earth, both in sinking vertical shafts and in tunneling horizontally and obliquely.

Said improvement consists in a tire-box directly connected witha revolving suction-fan for drawing the air `rapidly through the firebox and throwing it in an intensely-heated condition, together with the flames of the fire, directly against the ground which it is desired to thaw, and also of an attachment for utilizing the heatin thesaid lire-box when desired for cooking purposes. I attain these objects by the appliances illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a vertical section showing the fan-drum and fire-box imposition. Fig. 2 is an elevation, partly in section, showing hood for horizontal or oblique tunneling, and a partial section showing damper.V Fig. 3 is a cross-section showing direction of air-currents and by means of dotted lines indicating the cooking apparatus. Fig. 4 is ahorizontal section through fire-box and vertical duct on line 4 4, Fig.`3, also showing draft-pieces and showing plan of cooking apparatus. v

Hitherto mining in the frozen earth of cold countries has generally been conducted by piling wood upon the earth to be thawed and y parts are in 4place the air is driven into the thawing the same by means of an open fire, resulting in an enormous waste of heat and greatly hindering the progress of the work. By means of my invention I effect a great economy of heat and enable an immensely greater amount of work to be done than is possible by the ordinary method.

The machine herein described may be made of any desired height and is preferably constructed of sheet-steel, and consists of a iirebox 3, a fan-drum 4, an air-duct 8, and a hotair chamber 9. The fuel is introduced into -the fire-box through the fuel-door 25 and is supplied with fresh air through'the draft- Serial No. 673,396. (No model.)

holes 13. At each end of the fans is an opening 6, communicating with the fire box through a space 27 at the'side of the fan-drum 4, as shown by arrows in. Fig. 3. The fandrum is cylindrical and is occupied by the fans 7, which are adapted to revolve with the shaft 14. Firmly attachedto the end of the shaft and upon the outside of the machine is a pinion 22, which cooperates with acrank- Wheel 21. These wheels are so adapted to each other in size that when the crank-wheel is turned by means of the crank 23 by hand or by any other power the fan 7is revolved with great rapidity. When revolved in the direction indicated by the arrows in'rFig. 1,

vlthe fan has the effect of throwing the air in the fan-drum down throughthe vertical airduct 8 and into the air-chamber'), causing a strong suction-draft through the draft-holes 13 under the bottom pieces 30 and up through the fuel in the fire-box 3, thence through the openings 6 into the fan-drum,and thence down through the vertical air-duct S, hot-air chamber 9, and-out through 'the vsmoke-pipe 16. The vertical edge of the fan-drum is marked 5 in the drawings and at the side of the "drum forms the space 27 between the fan-drum and the body of the machine through which the air passes from the fuel-box in to the fan-drum.

When it is desired to use the machine in horizontal' tunneling, the hood 17 is'attached.

to the fan-drum and the air-current thrown into it by meansof the valve ordamper 11, which is adapted to be thrown across the vertical air-duct 8, as shown in Fig. 2,and to tightly close the same. The top valve ordamper 10 is removed and the upper horizontal duct 18 is attached to the fan-drum, and when these hot-air chamber or hood 17 and against the vertical face ofthe earth and out at the smoke- IOO wire brace 12 is used for pushing in the damper 11 to close the vertical air-d uct and keep the said damper in place, as shown in Fig. 2.

The machine being made of sheet-steel and rendered as light as possible, the vertical brace 24 is necessary and is used to stiften the side and render the coperation of the crankwheel and pinion more accurate and reliable. It also furnishes an attachment for the axle of the crank-wheel 21.

The cooking attachment shown in Figs. 3 and 4 consists of an ordinary tin or sheetiron oven, such as are used in connection with gasolene or oil stoves, and is provided With holes 31, upon which cooking utensils can be placed, and is adapted to be attached to the side of the machine. When used in cooking, the damperorslide 15 is pushed out, so as to admit the hot air from the tire-box into the cooker. The smoke-pipe 16 is detached and is attached to the cooker,as shown in Fig. 3. The cooker is provided with an oven 32.

The bottom pieces 30 are designed for the two purposes of keeping the fuel away from the draft-holes 13 and directing the draft so as to produce the most perfect combustion of the' fuel. The smoke pipe 16 is provided with the dampers 19 and 20 for the economy of heat.

The Whole machine is put together by appropriate bolts and rivets and as far as possible by separable joints to enable it to be easily taken down and packed in small compass. In actual practice it may be provided with a bail for the attachment of a rope or chain attached to a Windlass, by which it may be hoisted above the users head and out of his way while removing the softened earth.

The method of using the above described apparatus is obvious. The earth to be removed is so leveled or smoothed as to receive the face of the hot-air chamber 9 or the hood 17, as the case may be, and, the tire being kindled and the machine in place, the crank is turned until suiicient earth has been thawed, whereupon the machine is hoisted out of place or removed, the thawed earth excavated, and the operation repeated.

The form of apparatus shown in the above description is designed for the use of Wood as a fuel; but it is obvious that any kind of fuel, as coal or oil, may be used by appropriate variations of the fire-box 3.

The Whole machine maybe protected from outside cold by a iireproof canvas pitched above it, like a tent.

The heat-chamber i) is open at the bottom and rests upon the earth to be thawed. The hood 17 is also open to the mine-Wall, and when either the hood l7 or the heat-chamber 9 is in use the heated air and flames contained in it are driven directly against the earth to be thawed, and thus produce the greatest possible effectiveness in operation.

It is obvious that bya proper arrangement of dampers part of the hot air from the drum may be driven through hood 17 and part through chamber 9.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent l. A machine for thawing frozen earth comprising a casing having therein a heatingchamber with an open bottom and closed sidestand a smoke-pipe, and having therein over and next to the heatin g-chamber a combustion-chamber, and above the combustionchamber a drum, a passage connecting the combustion-chamber and the drum, a passage connecting the drum with the heatingchamber, and a fan in the drum for drawing the products of combustion from the combustion-chamber and forcing them through the heatingchamber, substantially as described.

2. In a heating apparatus for thawing fro- Zen earth,the open-bottom heating-chamber, the combustion-chamber over and separated from the heating-chamber by a close partition, the drum over the heating-chamber connecting with the combustion chamber, a

.valved passage from the drum to the heating-chamber, an outlet from the drum, and a fan in the drum and means for operating the fan, substantially as described.

3. In a heating apparatus for thawing frozen earth, the open-bottom heating-chamber, the combustion-chamber over and separated from the heating-chamber by a close partition, the drum, lines connecting the ends of the drum with opposite sides of the combustion-chamber, a passage from the drum to the heating-chamber, a fan in the drum and means for operating the fau, substantially as described.

4. A machine for thawing frozen earth consisting essentially of a heating-chamber at the base, open at bottom,a combustion-chamber above said heating-chamber and Without direct communicationtherewith, a fan-drum above and receiving the products of combustion from the combustion-chamber, a plurality of valved outlets from the fan-drum, one passage leading to the heating-chamber, and a hood adj ustably connected to the fan-drum at the other valved passage, all substantially as described.

5. In a machine for thawing earth, a basechamber open at bottom, a combustion-chamber above said base-chamber and separated by a close partition, a fan-drum above the combustion-chamber in position to receive the products thereof, a fan in the drum and means for driving it, a valved opening in said fan-drum, and a removable hood attachable to the drum at the opening and provided with exit-passages at its outer end, all combined substantially as described.

CHARLES PORTER BRO VN.

Witnesses:

JAMES PHILLIPS, E. O. FURLONG.

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